From the look of it, Ling Men was defeated. What a surprise!
Everyone thought that this year Black Snow Royal Academy's Year End Tournament would be a showdown stage prepared for Erza and Ling Men. Unexpectedly, Erza barely managed to defeat Elsa, while Ling Men lost to Mozart.
Many young girls started to realize that Mozart was actually not bad at all, in fact he was charming and handsome. Everyone loved surprises and underdogs. Therefore, Mozart's popularity quickly shot to the sky after this match.
"Is that the boy who you said very close to Elsa?" Stephanie, Elsa's mother, turned to look at Bella.
"Yes."
"Hmmm.. You two girls really have great insights." Stephanie praised her daughters. Bella was indeed very well known amongst her peers to have great eyes for people. That was why Elsa was happy when she heard Bella believed that she had found great friends.
Tony did not join in their conversation. He just sat there and silently looking at Mozart who was making his way down from the stage after Ling Men admitted his defeat.
The fourth match was Qi Long versus Claire. This was another close fight. Both fighters were warriors and they were evenly matched, a buffed peak level Apprentice against an early level Knight. In the end, Qi Long managed to beat his opponent due to his superiority in treasures. Some people were not happy with the way he won, but there was indeed no rule saying that you could not take advantage of your superiority in treasures.
As a result, three out of four semifinalists were surprisingly first year students. This had never happened before in the past Year End Tournaments. Some people might argue that it was due to the incident with the third year students five months ago. However, it did not diminish the fact that these first year students were outstanding talents. Erza, Elsa, and Mozart caused some people to recognize these students as the Golden Generation.
Furthermore, despite being a place which flourished in Magic, there was surprisingly no pure mage amongst the semifinalists. Erza was a sword mage, whereas Tom Cruz was another heavy sword warrior. Then, Mozart was a mix between thief and mage, while Qi Long was a warlord.
Wielding a spear, warlord was very influential in a war. They could support their troops with supporting magics, and their attacks were wide and powerful.
After a short 15 minutes break, the tournament finally entered the semifinal rounds. The first match was obviously Erza against Tom Cruz. Despite, being four years older than his opponent, no one believed that Tom could defeat Erza.
At this moment, Tom Cruz stood up. He was going for an impossible mission. Both fighters arrived on the stage.
Standing in front of Erza, Tom Cruz brandished his heavy sword across his chest. He sighed and said, "Erza, throughout all these years, you are the one who I admire the most out of the entire younger generation of Black Snow Empire. I'm really looking forward to this battle against you."
"Thank you! But still, I won't go easy on you!" Erza chuckled.
Tom Cruz had a wry smile on his face. As the sole representative of the fifth year students, he really hoped that he would not be defeated too bad. After all, it concerned the face of all fifth year students.
The Heavenly Flame Sword came out and a black lightning leapt onto its scarlet blade tip. Then, the winding arcs of lightning twisted around like snakes, crawling up to the handle!
As Tom Cruz gazed upon this scene, his eyes narrowed. This was….control over the power of thunder?
Compared with the five basic elements, wind and thunder stood higher. They were rarer and harder to control. There were exceedingly few who mastered these two kinds of attributes, but, they were also much stronger than the five elements. Especially the thunder attribute. In terms of attack speed, it went against the will of the heavens.
But now looking at Erza, it appeared that she had the power of thunder at her beck and call.
How was this possible? In just a year Erza had managed to master thunder magic?
In her previous fights, everyone always focused in her flames. Very few noticed the sparks of black lightning around her. In fact, in every report and information regarding her ability, it was only mentioned that she held the power of Flame and Time.
Wait…. Time?
Tom Cruz expression totally changed when he remembered that Erza held the power of Time. She rarely spelled out loud her Time Magic, so people started to forget that Erza held the power of Time. Now that he thought back to her previous fight with Elsa, everything started to make more sense.
Tom sighed with emotion, 'This girl is just too scary. If she just practices, with her combat talent, she would certainly reach the King Realm, even the extreme Emperor Realm. But if she is able to attain the fortunes that come with danger during her adventures, then she might reach the Saint Realm, or an even higher existence!'
'This sort of practitioner must not only have practice and combat talent. They also have to have a firm mind and be incomparably calm. They must act bold, be fearless, daring to do what no one else does! In front of a fortuitous encounter, just a little bit of hesitation will cause them to lose their chance.'
Tom looked at the thick electric arc that was twisting around Erza's blade and suddenly laughed, "Today, I, Tom Cruz, have truly gained in experience. It is a rare opportunity and honour to be able to fight a practitioner who master Fire, Thunder, and Time at the same time!"
As Tom Cruz said this, he gripped his four feet long heavy sword horizontally outwards.
"King Punishment Blade – Purple Air From the West!"
*Bang!*
Tom Cruz tread the ground, and pulled the four feet long heavy sword around him, drawing a perfect arc on the ground. True essence manifested as a silver shark that was plowing a path through a sea of ice.
In that moment, Tom Cruz had gathered all of his profound energy, his momentum reaching the extreme.
"It's Purple Air From the West! This is Tom Cruz's strongest skill!"
"This is a King-grade sword skill. In addition, it is at the pinnacle of King-grade sword skills. I heard that there are six different moves within the King Punishment Blade, and this Purple Air From the West is the third strongest move."
Hearing the name Purple Air from the West, those guests in the audience didn't react much. However, many academy students were incomparably excited to the point of almost frothing at the mouth. When one was below the 100 rankings of their grade, they could only choose a Knight-grade skill to practice every year. If they entered the top 100, then they could choose a low King-grade skill.
There were few high King-grade skills. As one of the TOP 3 students in his grade, Tom Cruz had been especially permitted to practice the 'King Punishment Blade', which was at the apex of all King-grade skills!
Now, they would personally watch its majesty. Not only that, they would also be able to see the third strongest move of the King Punishment Blade; how could they not be feverish from excitement?
Facing off against Tom Cruz, Erza still displayed her nonchalant attitudes.
At this time, the four feet heavy sword in Tom's hand had already turned into a vibrant and flawless purple colour, as if a flame was burning on the blade. At this moment, Tom's momentum had reached its peak.
"Take my sword!"
With that final word, Tom stepped forward. The sword was like an angry lion; it carried a vast power that roared towards Erza. In a blink of an eye, he had closed the 200 feet distance that separated them!
The essences around him wildly fluctuated. Purple flames ignited the air. Tom's sword was like a mountain as it smashed downwards.
Erza's vision sharpened, and 'Double Acceleration' was activated. Highly compressed true essence and the power of thunder erupted outwards. A thick arc of black lightning jumped onto the red sword, wrapping around it like thick python, directly striking out to meet Tom's sword.
*Bang!*
The ground beneath suddenly shook, and Tom's condensed Purple Air From the West was struck by the thunder. It was no different than pure white snow basking in the summer sun; it rapidly melted!
"What?"
Tom was shocked. His strongest strike was actually broken apart like this?
In that split second, Tom hesitated. The thick black lightning burst through the purple cloud and directly struck Tom's body. In that moment, Tom felt his entire body go numb, and even his heart stopped beating.
In that moment, he even thought he would die.
However, that feeling soon passed. That thick electric snake drilled through his body and howled as it pierced into the sky. In a few moments it submerged into the clouds above.
At this time, the sky was still snowing, and dark clouds covered the tournament arena. After that thick electric snake broke into the cloud, faint sparks of lightning were seen, and a rumbling thunder began to sound through the air.
This was like a winter thunderstorm!
There was no snow in summer, and no thunder in winter.
Seeing thunder billowing in the sky, the entire audience was shocked speechless. With her own strength, Erza had moved the heavens and created thunder, even changing the laws of nature. What sort of nonsensical exaggeration was this?
Was this really something that a Knight Realm expert could achieve?
Victoria looked up at the sky and let loose a breath. This was far from changing the laws of nature. But, to be able to create thunder in the clouds, the intensity and ferocity of that thunder strike was simply too astonishing.
It seemed like Erza's lightning mastery was not much less than her flame mastery. But, how could a little thirteen years old girl have time to practice these many skills?